Campbell Soup Sued Over Worker Health Plan Smoker Surcharge (1)

Campbell Soup Co. was hit with a proposed class action saying its health plan wrongly charges higher fees to smokers without giving them a legally compliant way to have the penalty waived.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, challenges the soup maker’s alleged practice of charging employees who use tobacco products an extra $650 per year to stay on the company health plan. Employees who participate in a smoking cessation program can avoid paying this penalty on a forward-looking basis, but the company doesn’t provide an opportunity for employees to ...